An Analysis of Cultural Communication

     In business, successful communication is the key to success, and being able to relate to a customer is the best form of communication. This is why cross-cultural communication is so important as the business world continues to globalize itself. Unfortunately, “A lack of awareness about the culturally prescribed rules and norms of communication behaviors can cause public relations projects to fail, or worse, backfire.” (Zaharna, 2001, p.135).

According to Osterhammel and Petersson, globalization “summarizes a wide spectrum of experiences shared by many people” (2). I agree with this statement and would go on to claim that globalization is a group of processes and events, some beneficial and some harmful, that have resulted in the spread of networks across the world. However, this spread of networks did not happen over night. This is in part because not all interactions are transformed into networks, as these require a certain degree of longevity. In order for interactions to become networks, groups must consider the range between each other and their interactions must be important or impactful, intense, fast, durable, and frequent. For the reason that each of these characteristics must be present in order for networks to form, globalization has been in the works for many centuries and is still at work today. Therefore, while the historical events and processes of past centuries have provided the roots of globalization, the modernization of recent decades has built upon these roots to connect the world in a way

“Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in societies around the world” (The State University of New York, 2014, para 1).

Globalization, defined as “a process that aims to expand business operations on a worldwide level, and was precipitated by the facilitation of global communications due to technological advancements, and socioeconomic, political and environmental developments” has been around for ages. However, it is a force that is becoming increasing more relevant in today’s world. In layman’s terms, globalism is the merging or “melting” of individual perspectives and markets into a more global market. As of recently, society has been obsessed with studying globalization. However, the conversation is rarely economical. Globalization is typically looked at as a social or cultural force that is shaping and connecting the world. This is scene in clothing styles, human travel, and popular culture that has become increasingly similar across nations. That sentiment isn’t wrong-globalization does have a cultural side, but many people are missing the economic impacts that this new world is facing. In fact, the economic implications of globalization and how governments legislate to control them leads to significant opportunity, but also huge threat globally.

The world is not a large and strange place anymore. The world is a place that is interconnected and intertwined. The world has become from a place that each country and their peoples are separate and isolated to a place that each country and their peoples are part of a global network. Thanks to globalization this is occurring. Globalization is the ‘international integration” or ‘de-bordering’ – “a number of highly disparate observations whose regular common denominator is the determination of a profound transformation of the traditional nation-state” (Von Bogdandy 2). Globalization is connecting different people from different cultures and backgrounds together. More and more corporations are entering new foreign markets to sell their

Globalization is the process by which different societies and cultures integrate through a worldwide network of political ideas through transportation, communication, and trade. Generally, globalization has affected many nations in various ways; economically, politically, and socially. It is a term that refers to the fast integration and interdependence of various nations, which shapes the world affairs on a global level. Simply put; globalization is the world coming together. In this essay I will discuss multiple perspectives on globalization through the analysis of these three sources.

The 20th century brought with it a rapid expansion of the global interrelatedness of the world. In the beginning of the 20th century the world was dominated by a European world system of colonial empires that was created through expansion by sea (Findley, 2011). The competition between Britain and the other colonial powers led to an insatiable appetite to expand their empires across the globe (Findley, 2011). As the 20th century progressed this European world system collapsed and a new three world system of the United States, Soviet Union, and the rest of the world emerged (Findley, 2011). The end of the century coincided with a new era of globalization that was made possible by the introduction of global communication via the internet (Findley, 2011). This new technology brought the entire world closer together than it had ever been before. The four events that best illustrate the progression of global interrelatedness throughout the 20th century are the Great Depression, World War II, Cold War, and the introduction of instant global communications via the internet.

While waiting in line at the ice rink one day, a little boy smiled at me and began making the cutest funny faces. He looked about four years old. My friend and I made funny faces back at him before going off to skate. Thirty minutes later, I noticed the boy again. His mother wanted him to skate, but only encouraged him from the sidelines since she wasn’t wearing skates. I asked my friend if we should help the little boy. She agreed. The mom smiled and nodded her head when we asked her. The little boy was so energetic. My friend and I took turns holding him up and steadying him. After an hour passed, he skated with a walker by himself.

Perhaps a cliché to mention, but an important aspect of human life which has brought the entire race to where it stands today, is the very act and ability to communicate with each other; and finally in the 19th century, this ability to communicate culminated to that process of ultimate human integration which is known as “globalization”. Although the 19th century is considered as the beginning of the kind of “globalization” that describes the modern world today, the process is believed to have begun during the times of great voyages and discoveries. Arthur Macewan in his essay “What is Globalization” (2001) wrote, “Ever since Adam and Eve left the garden, people have been expanding the geographic realm of their economic, political, social and cultural contacts.

For the course of International Management the following assignment has been giving with the objective to select a topic in the field of International Management. The topic for this paper is Cross-cultural Communication in Marketing/advertising.

Inter culture communication is the form of communication which is used to share information across different cultures and social group, It is also used in a wide range of communication issues that arise within an organisation of individuals of different educational backgrounds, Religious Social ethnic.

Many historians and sociologists have identified a transformation in the economic processes of the world and society in recent times. There has been an extensive increase in developments in technology and the economy as a whole in the twentieth century. Globalization has been recognized as a new age in which the world has developed into what Giddens identifies to be a “single social system” (Anthony Giddens: 1993 ‘Sociology’ pg 528), due to the rise of interdependence of various countries on one another, therefore affecting practically everyone within society.

The issues of globalization increasingly dominate the universe’s life. The concept of globalization according to Robertson (1992) refers to the narrowing of the world as incentives and increased our awareness of the world, namely the increasing global connections and our understanding of the connection. Globalization is a situation in which no boundaries between the people of the world and links communities in a country with people in another countries. Globalization departs from an idea to unite the nations which is expected to be a mutual agreement and guidelines for nations around the world. Globalization is able to waive the space and time constraints to get the interaction and communication between nations can be done

International media has had a large effect on countries all over the world. Western nations dominate the media industry, forcing their values and ideals onto developing nations. Whether or not these developing nations are homogenized or react to the forces laid upon them depends on the control of their government and their traditional values. Homogenization refers to the norming of a local, or native, culture by the invasion of a more dominant culture. Many different factors play into whether or not cultures are becoming homogenized and to what degree, but the few I will be discussing in this essay are the diminishment of language barriers and the digital divide, the influence of western media and the opinions the Chinese and Egyptian governments had relating to media such as the Internet, social media and television.

In today’s world, with a few notable exceptions, nearly everyone in every region of the world has access to the same products, information and services. A long-distance relationship is no longer so distant, since each party involved in the relationship can communicate through Skype, Facebook or through any of the vast amount of social media available. A person in Easter Island, one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world, can go to the other side of the world and travel to Canada. An economic crisis in Argentina could affect the economic landscape in Brazil. A person in Chile or Peru can buy an Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirt because this transnational corporation decided to expand its market to developing countries, or as you might prefer, to emerging economies in South America. Although many of these examples might be trivial, these are the consequences of globalization.